I'm 15 and I run cross country and track. I live in a town with lakes but no indoor pools and right now i've been swimming like 1/2 to 3/4 of mile in the lake every other day for cross training. I actually really like it and could use some advice on what to do from here.
Obviously you've had bad experiences with a coach or coaches in the past, but there are lots of great coaches out there. Their job is actually to help swimmers swim faster and most of them really want to do this.
When I started swimming with the local masters team nearly 5 years ago, there was no dedicated coach. Each of the team members took turn on deck and virtually no one offered any sort of technique feedback. I did get some feedback from a few teammates and I found it invaluable as someone with no swimming background.
Within the last year I switched pools and found someone to workout with who is also willing to provide coaching. Receiving constant feedback about technique and being given workouts that are geared to help learn strokes better do make a huge difference in getting faster.
So I agree that having a good coach will help you make progress much more quickly.
Obviously you've had bad experiences with a coach or coaches in the past, but there are lots of great coaches out there. Their job is actually to help swimmers swim faster and most of them really want to do this.
When I started swimming with the local masters team nearly 5 years ago, there was no dedicated coach. Each of the team members took turn on deck and virtually no one offered any sort of technique feedback. I did get some feedback from a few teammates and I found it invaluable as someone with no swimming background.
Within the last year I switched pools and found someone to workout with who is also willing to provide coaching. Receiving constant feedback about technique and being given workouts that are geared to help learn strokes better do make a huge difference in getting faster.
So I agree that having a good coach will help you make progress much more quickly.
